A Happy Time Was Had By All: Woodies On The Wharf, June 2025

Last Saturday, June 21, my husband and I spent a great day checking out Woodies on the Wharf in Santa Cruz, California. There was a large crowd, but everyone seemed happy as they strolled among the cars. As Woodie-wife Kathleen Hoser said, the Woodie is “a friendly car that everybody kind of likes.”

Woodies On The Wharf takes place every June on the wharf at the Santa Cruz Beach & Boardwalk.

What kind of car is a Woodie?

Rob Rohrer, owner of a 1915 Model T Ford, said, “A Woodie is anything with a wood body on it . . wood body or paneling.” Referring to the various Woodies showcased on the wharf, Rob explained further: All these were one-off, hand-built bodies, built on a chassis. Just like every Woodie out here, there’s not one that’s going to be the same as another. They’re all individually done, all hand made . . . And that’s what makes them so interesting and so desirable, is every one is a one-off, they’re all hand-built creations.”

1915 Model-T Ford Woodie owned by Rob Rohrer.

Rob considers his Model T Ford to be the “grandfather” of all the Woodies out there. “This is the original Woodie . . . when you look at all these other cars, this is essentially what they all came from.” Rob explained that the Model T’s were once known as Depot Hacks. “Depot referred to a train depot, and a hack referred to a taxi. That’s what they used to call taxis, was hacks. Now they changed the name from train depot to train station, so now they call them station wagons rather than depot hacks.”

Driver’s seat of the 1915 Model-T Ford owned by Rob Rohrer.

Tin Woodie

In the 1970’s, my family had a station wagon. It was a Ford Country Squire with body-side wood-grain trim. The body of the car was made of steel; the wood grain was simulated. In the 1940’s and ’50s, when these simulated wood-paneled cars first came out, they were known as “Tin Woodies.” There were many Tin Woodies on display at this year’s Woodies on the Wharf, like the one owned by Raymond Kruse.

Raymond has a 1954 Chevy Wagon. He said that when he found it, “it was sitting under a tree rotting away.” The previous owner had added fins from a ’56 Clipper, and the bottom and grill from a 1950’s Pontiac. Raymond restored the car to the gleaming model it is today. He also converted the engine to a 350 VA with automatic transmission (not sure I’m saying that right!), “so it’s just like driving a Chevy Truck.” He said he “flew down here at 60 mph just like everybody else.” That’s the beauty of these Woodies – every one can be customized.

Fins from a ’56 Clipper on a ’54 Chevy-Wagon Woodie, owned by Raymond Kruse. Notice the wood-grain painted trim.

Woodies And The Surfing Connection

Whenever I think of Woodie cars, I think of surfers. They go together. Surfers began using Woodie Wagons because they were large enough to transport their surfboards plus a car full of friends. Dan Hoser, owner of a 1946 Mercury Woodie, said he bought his car specifically because he surfed. He got it in 1986 after seeing an ad in the Woodie Times– a magazine put out by the National Woodie Club.

Dan said, “the Woodie club used to be mainly ex-surfers or current surfers, and then probably about twenty years ago or so, the hot rod guys got involved. (Dan said Hot Rods have “unbelievable” paint and chrome jobs – an epoxy-like varnish.) “When I bought it, I put my surfboards in it and I’d come over and I’d surf, and the paint was worn, and I really enjoyed it. I didn’t care, I’d leave it with the windows down when I went surfing – no one’s going to steal your Woodie – and I never left anything valuable enough . . then the Woodie Club formed and then when the hot rod guys came along, all of a sudden these things went up in value and I said, ‘damn it, now I’ve gotta take care of it.’

So Dan had it painted and re-chromed, and put on a new vinyl top. “But now,” he says, “my chrome is all pitted, so it feels like it’s the way it used to be, because I park it near the salt water.”

Nostalgia For Woodies

The Woodie is a car of nostalgia. It prompts people to share stories, like these from Dan and his wife Kathleen:

When Dan used to work in the Palo Alto Fire Department, he and a bunch of the guys would get together to run the Santa Cruz Wharf to Wharf race. Since Dan and Kathleen live in Santa Cruz near the race’s location, Dan would “pile everybody in in the morning and drive them down to the start of the race.” Kathleen said they “did that for years with this car.”

Kathleen also used to teach to international students at San Jose State University. “At the end of the term I’d have them to my house for a barbecue, and then we would take them for a ride in the Woodie and they were flippin’ out . . and it was almost like the clown car cause I’d pack so many people in there and they’d come pouring out. It was so fun.”

Dan Hoser and his 1946 Mercury Woodie. His wife Kathleen is seated behind the car.

Also, Dan told me that when he first bought his ’46 Mercury, he drove it home from Los Angeles. “And the coolest thing about it, was on the way home I was getting little old ladies waving to me, I was getting guys in Harley’s going by, it’s like everybody loves them.”

Kathleen added, “It’s a car that people have memories associated with . . you get to share people’s memories and stories.”

Woodies on the Wharf is an annual event put on by the Santa Cruz Woodies Club. It happens every June, but this one has past. So I will leave you with more photos of these wonderful cars as well a short video. Enjoy!